Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41927849›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurology2026

Neurofilament light-chain (Nf-L) as a biomarker in seizures and status epilepticus of varying duration.

Sophie Schlabitz, Jakob I Doerrfuss, Jonas M Hebel, Péter Körtvélyessy, Martin Holtkamp, Verena Gaus

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Sophie SchlabitzDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany. sophie.schlabitz@charite.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8918-6715
Jakob I DoerrfussDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8682-0215
Jonas M HebelDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2414-0441
Péter KörtvélyessyDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Center for ALS and Other Motoneuron Disorders, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1262-6169
Martin HoltkampDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2258-1670
Verena GausDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6003-936X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNeurofilament light chain (Nf-L) is an established biomarker for neuronal damage and a prognostic parameter in many diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). In epilepsy, most studies have focused on Nf-L levels either in epileptic seizures or in status epilepticus. We sought to investigate the correlation between epileptic seizures of different duration and elevated Nf-L levels as a biomarker for neuroaxonal injury also considering methodological confounders in Nf-L measurement.

methodsIn adult patients, Nf-L was investigated in serum and/or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after a single epileptic seizure (51 patients), acute repetitive seizures (11 patients) or status epilepticus (20 patients) along with standard acute CSF parameters. In addition, ratios of Nf-L to age-adjusted reference intervals were calculated.

resultsIn both serum and CSF, absolute Nf-L levels were significantly increased after status epilepticus compared to patients who experienced a single seizure (serum: p < 0.0001; CSF: p  = 0.0008) or acute repetitive seizures (serum: p = 0.035 CSF: p  = 0.045). Similarly, age-adjusted Nf-L ratios in serum were higher after status epilepticus (median = 1.68, interquartile range = 2.81) than after a single seizure (median = 0.67, interquartile range = 0.73; p  = 0.039). Though ANOVA-testing indicated significant differences in CSF Nf-L ratios between the three groups (p  = 0.040), pairwise post hoc testing was not significant. A moderate significant positive correlation was observed between the duration of status epilepticus and serum Nf-L concentrations (Pearson r = 0.48, p  = 0.02).

conclusionOur data indicate that single and acute repetitive seizures likely do not cause significant neuronal injury as assessed by Nf-L concentrations in serum and CSF. In contrast, status epilepticus is accompanied by a duration-dependent increase in serum Nf-L, which presumably reflects seizure-associated cellular injury and underlines the need for rapid and consistent antiseizure treatment.

Indexed as

Neurofilament ProteinsSeizuresStatus EpilepticusAdultAgedBiomarkersFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedTime FactorsYoung AdultBiomarkersneurofilament protein LNeurofilament ProteinsCerebrospinal fluidEpilepsyNeuronal damageSerum

Identifiers

PMID41927849
PMCPMC13046657

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.